Illinoisans, if we don't remain on high alert, we're going to find ourselves with higher state income taxes.

Again. And the tax-raisers' sales pitch will even make us feel good about it.

In 2011, the General Assembly and Gov. Pat Quinn enacted a "temporary" increase to the personal income tax, raising the flat 3 percent rate to 5 percent. The 7.3 percent corporate rate went to 9.5 percent.

These rates are set to expire partially in 2015, when the personal rate would go to 3.75 percent and the corporate rate to 7.75 percent. In 2025, the rates would dip to 3.25 percent and 7.3 percent.

The 2011 tax increases extract $7 billion to $8 billion a year from our pocketbooks. You wonder, did the lawmakers make such an unpopular move in the midst of a recession? Didn't they worry about losing re-election? In a word, no. Illinois was redistricted by Democrats in 2011 to give most of the party's legislators safe seats.

Republicans were given some safe seats as a consolation prize. Because of gerrymandering, Democrats have been able to elect veto-proof majorities in both houses of the General Assembly, allowing them to raise taxes and increase spending, which is the Democratic Party's philosophy of government.

Republicans have made the same power grabs in states they control, In all-GOP and all-Democrat states, the clout of local voters is significantly reduced. In Illinois, 97 percent of incumbents are re-elected.

The tax increase was supposed to help Illinois pay down its debt and to catch up on past-due bills. That didn't happen, the Tax Foundation says in a new report:

"Despite the added revenue from the 2011 tax increases, the state's backlog of unpaid bills grew to $9 billion by 2013 before dropping at the end of the year to $7.6 billion. Additionally, interest payments have more than doubled and the state's credit and economic outlook remains weak. The corporate tax increase has led to several instances of high-profile businesses preparing to move operations out-of-state before the state stepped in to mitigate the increased tax burden with a targeted incentive package."

The state used a lot of the new revenue to increase spending. This is a vicious cycle: The more taxes are raised, the more people and businesses leave Illinois and the lower our economic rating goes. Until 2011, Illinois' business climate was 17th, which is good for a big, complicated state with a population of 13 million.

Now Illinois ranks 31st. If business taxes go up further, we'll be 44th, the foundation says.

The first battle of 2014 will be over extending the 2011 temporary tax increase for three or four more years, or indefinitely. That's totally in the hands of lawmakers and the governor. They can do it in the lame-duck months after the November election to keep it from being a campaign issue.

Page 2 of 2 - The second battle is over a constitutional amendment needed for the state to pass a graduated income tax. If supporters can get a 60 percent vote in both chambers of the General Assembly, and they get sufficient signatures to put the question on the November ballot, voters will have to approve it.

One plan features seven tax brackets and a top rate of 9 percent, the Tax Foundation says, "raising taxes on all income over $18,000."

Supporters of the graduated tax believe Illinois does not have a spending problem, it has a lack of revenue. They will try to sell the graduated tax as a "tax on the rich." However, nearly all of us will find that we are "rich" and have to pay higher taxes, without any guarantee of steps being taken to streamline state government.

Many people, including me, believe Illinois has adequate revenue but can't control spending. And, in Illinois, most workers are not getting raises, meaning whenever taxes are raised, we lose spendable income, causing even more of a drain on the economy.